30 Days of Biking - Days 12 & 13

Day 12 - I had such a run-around Sunday that I thought I was going to have to skip a day (heaven forbid!)  However, I managed to take the dog out for a few laps of the village so all was well in the end. (2 miles)

Day 13 - Monday was a beautiful and bright, but foggy morning.  I love how cool it is when the weather's like this and how you seem to just be able to pedal and pedal without overheating.  There is definitely something about the sun being up when you start riding.  The day starts with so much more optimism than many if those cold, dark and damp winter commutes.  As I keep tellin gpeople - days like this are the payback for the miserable winter ones.  Whatever the weather though, I'd rather be on my bike than in a tin box!

I even took a detour through the park on the way to the office.  The fog reduced the scenery somewhat but it was so nice just cruising along the foggy, tree-lined avenues of the park.

Nicely atmospheric.

I had planned to take a long-cut again on the way home but a couple of last minute errands put a stop to that.  However, I managed to do them all on my bike so all ended well with a slightly longer journey than usual.  (24 miles for the day)

30 Days of Biking - Days 8 - 11

Day 8 - Slightly shortened normal commute as I met the family for a swim on the way home. The nice thing about a folding bike being that you can just sling it in the car and share a ride home. As I got into the city before the others I spent a while just cruising around new streets and taking in the sites. 17 miles for the day.

Day 9 - Busy day out visiting some clients so just did 1.5 miles with the dog. Better than no riding at all, though.

Day 10 - Normal daily commute by bike and train. 23 miles riding.

Day 11 - Lovely sunny day today, though windy. Narrowly averted disaster with a dash to Morrisons when we ran out of G&T but also picked up ice, lemons, ice creams and flowers for my wife. The heavy rucksack was made up for by a fantastic tail wind for 2 miles down the lane home. 8 miles in all.

We're over a third of the way there and going strong, or so it feels. 153.5 miles for the month.

New blogging app

Following the recent demise of my BlackBerry, I have inherited a new smartphone. It's one of the Nokia Lumia series and I was initially a little concerned that the choice of apps would be as limited as on the BB. it seems though that, while there may not be as many as on Android or iOS, there is a pretty good selection. One app that I really wanted to find was a good interface for Blogger. I tried couple of iffy ones but have settled on this one - MyBlogger Free. It's maybe a tiny bit clunky, but seems fine for basic text posts which suits me to be honest. Longer or picture-heavy posts can wait for when I'm in front of the laptop.

Looks like I'm back to being able to blog on the go then. Happy days.

30 Days of Biking - Day 7

I am loving this weather we're having at the moment.  It has been cold and crisp in the mornings (though not too cold) and warm and sunny in tha afternoon.  Lovely for riding.

I did end up taking the train yesterday but it was too nice an evening to ride straight home so I went by a different and longer route.  What should have been a 7.5 mile ride ended up being nearer 13 by the time I got to our house.  It was great just to pedal and follow my nose along the lanes around where we live.  I could have ridden much further but was well ready for dinner when I arrived!

I'd even texted my lad to see if he wanted to ride and meet me for the last couple of miles.  He rides a BMK with the saddle down somewhere near the rear wheel so distance riding isn't really going to be his thing.  He insists that he would be no more comfortable if I put his seat up a bit though - you can't tell kids anything, can you?  At least the bike still has two working brakes although I have to keep telling him to use them to slow down, rather than dragging a foot on the floor.  Still if they've seen the pros doing it on YouTube...  None of that really mattered though - it was just good to ride together for the last part of my commute.

When I used to use the car every day, I would go out of my way to shave time and distance off the journey.  So unpleasant is an evening commute by car.  I don't ever remember voluntarily making the journey longer just for the sake of it.

It seems that, in yet another way, cycling beats driving hands down.

(28 miles for the day)

Nice view down the lane towards our house.
BMX Bandit in the distance.

30 Days of Biking - Days 1 to 6

So this 30 days of biking thing.  For the last couple of years, I've noticed it about ten days too late but this year I came across a link in plenty of time and so signed up.

For those not in the know, it's about taking the pledge to ride your bike on every day on April.  There's a website and a Twitter feed here:

30 Days of Biking Website

and here:

30 Days of Biking Twitter Feed

I'm a big fan of encouraging cycling and sucker for a bit of an internet crowd event so this is right up my street.  Literally.

I ride to work a few days a week, though recent changes to my job mean that five days in the office is now a rarity.  That's been great from the point of view of variety, but really hammers my time in the saddle.

So the rides so far have been:

Day 1:  Commute to and from work (23 miles)

Day 2:  Commute to and from work including stop and pub on way home (23 miles)

Day 3:  Bank holiday so no work.  Went out for a brisk hour or so in the afternoon.  Really wet and drizzly but lovely to be out riding for a purpose other than commuting. (13 miles)

Day 4:  Busy day decorating so took the dog out for a few laps of the village after dark.  She has so much energy (always has had) and the bike ride ran plenty of that off!  Wish I'd thought of it years ago (1.5 miles)

Day 5:  Lovely sunny ride down the lane and back with youngest two kids.  My smallest is trying to get the hang of gears - twist shifters are a bit of a pain with little hands.  Great ride though - spreading the love. (4 miles)

Day 6:  Busy again so took the dog out again late in the evening. (1.5 miles)

So it's day 7 today.  I've already cycled in to work in the fog.  Despite the poor visibility it was a great ride in and I wore shorts (cut off jeans - no lycra here, thanks) for the first time in 2015.  Here are a couple of pictures:

 

The fog has lifted now though and it's a beautiful still, sunny day.  Consequently, I'm sitting here contemplating skipping the train tonight and going for the long ride all the way home.